New undergraduate research fellowship established
The Oregon Humanities Center (OHC) in collaboration with the UO Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) is pleased to announce a new undergraduate internship and fellowship program focused on building primary archival research and career readiness skills. The Humanities Undergraduate Program for Archival Studies and Practice (HUPASP) is made possible by a generous gift from long-time OHC friends Herb Merker and Marcy Hammock.
Studying and researching in the humanities helps students develop critical thinking, problem solving, communication, presentation, collaboration, and other important skills required to successfully navigate an ever-changing post-college world regardless of their chosen profession, and to be prepared to help solve society’s most complex issues.
SCUA staff will guide the HUPASP students through an internship and research production experience that will enable them to think more broadly about their career opportunities and interests, seek other research funding support, and pursue an honors thesis. The students will gain library science experience while developing project management, data collection and analysis, and digital humanities experience.
The HUPASP students will receive $3,000 for the twenty-week internship/fellowship, in addition to a high level of support from SCUA and OHC faculty and staff. The students will enroll in LIB 409: Archival Theory and Practice during the 2023 winter term, an internship practicum course led by SCUA faculty and professionals. The class offers an introduction to the theory and practice of managing archival documents, such as personal papers, institutional records, photographs, electronic records, and other unpublished material. Topics include manuscript and records acquisition and appraisal, arrangement and description, conservation and preservation, reference, and access.
In spring term, the students will enroll in LIB 409: Archives Practicum. They will apply archival theory and principles learned in winter term to SCUA’s John F. Finerty papers (AX 525), a 12-carton collection which consists of case files, general files, and some personal papers which include a privately published book of Finerty’s verse. The students will process, arrange, and describe the collection. Subsequently, they will create and publish a finding guide for the papers, identify specific documents to be digitized, create a digital exhibit about the collection, write a blog about the practicum, and give a public presentation about the project.
John Frederick Finerty (1885–1967) was an attorney for railroad companies in the Midwest, and assistant general counsel and special counsel for the U.S. Railroad Administration. In 1927 he prepared the last writ of habeas corpus for Sacco and Vanzetti and argued it before Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. In the 1930s Finerty was counsel in the appeal of Tom Mooney who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing. Finerty also served as special counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into the Moscow trials, taking testimony from Leon Trotsky about Stalin’s methods of eliminating his critics. Finally, Finerty was involved as a friend of the court after the conviction of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union and of the Workers Defense League. The UO acquired his papers in 1969.
Many impressive applications were submitted through a competitive application process in fall term. We are pleased to announce that the recipients are Maggie Dobson, a junior who is majoring in History and minoring in Food Studies and Earth Sciences; and Bryanna Hensley, a senior who is majoring in English and minoring in Medieval Studies.
Additional funding would strengthen this and other programs for undergraduate humanities research. To learn more about gift opportunities contact Jena Turner, jenap@uoregon.edu